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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    IBM Cloud Databases

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/AIBM Cloud Databases are open source data stores for enterprise application development. Built on a Kubernetes foundation, they offer a database platform for serverless applications. They are designed to scale storage and compute resources seamlessly without being constrained by the limits of a single server. Natively integrated and available in the IBM Cloud console, these databases are now available through a consistent consumption, pricing, and interaction model. They aim to provide a cohesive…N/A

    PostgreSQL

    Score8.2 out of 10
    N/APostgreSQL (alternately Postgres) is a free and open source object-relational database system boasting over 30 years of active development, reliability, feature robustness, and performance. It supports SQL and is designed to support various workloads flexibly.N/A
    Pricing
    IBM Cloud DatabasesPostgreSQL
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    IBM Cloud DatabasesPostgreSQL
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    IBM Cloud DatabasesPostgreSQL
    Considered Both Products
    IBM
    Chose IBM Cloud Databases
    N/A
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Cloud Databases
    While at the time, Amazon RDS did/does not create Mongo databases, I was able to set up many with PostgreSQL databases with the same ease as IBM Compose. However, IBM compose does seem to offer a more intuitive application control panel. Amazon RDS costs run on a server …
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Cloud Databases
    Aiven backup options are very limited (you can't download backups and you don't have an API) and their dashboard is incomplete and without an optimal design; but they accept way more data centers, and they have more pricing options.
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Cloud Databases
    It was very easy to set up at the time with a few clicks to get a database set up and hooked into Heroku, one of the PaaS-s we're using.
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Cloud Databases
    We currently use both Heroku and Compose. Heroku is our PAAS choice for our application servers. As mentioned, previously, the cost of some compose services for development / staging / testing servers was getting costly. For these type of servers we don't need the high …
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Cloud Databases
    Compose provides a lot more features for working with your database and its datasets
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Cloud Databases
    • Supported by IBM
    • Clean and better UI experience
    • Supports Digital Ocean
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Cloud Databases
    While using IBM Bluemix to host our SaaS product in the Asia/Pacific region, PostgreSQL suited us for integrating well with IBM Cloud, and also being available within the same geographic region.

    Other products that we looked at: ElephantSQL provides At-Rest encryption, but this …
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Cloud Databases
    When launching the system, using multiple services would have been inefficient, so we consolidated it on IBM Cloud Databases. We regularly compared the services provided by IBM Cloud Databases' PaaS with those of other cloud services, but decided that there was no need to go to …
    Incentivized
    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    15 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    26 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    79%
    Delivers good value for the price
    11 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    26 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    15 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    26 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    14 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    23 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    93%
    Implementation went as expected
    13 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    26 Answers
    Features
    IBM Cloud DatabasesPostgreSQL
    Database-as-a-Service
    Comparison of Database-as-a-Service features of IBM Cloud Databases and PostgreSQL
    Feature
    IBM Cloud Databases
    7.0
    93 Ratings
    21% below category average
    PostgreSQL
    -
    Ratings
    Automatic software patching8.577 Ratings00 Ratings
    Database scalability8.587 Ratings00 Ratings
    Automated backups6.890 Ratings00 Ratings
    Database security provisions8.783 Ratings00 Ratings
    Monitoring and metrics4.287 Ratings00 Ratings
    Automatic host deployment5.269 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    IBM Cloud DatabasesPostgreSQL
    Small Businesses
    MongoDB Atlas
    Score8.2 out of 10
    MariaDB Platform
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Azure Database
    Score9.8 out of 10
    MySQL
    Score8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Google BigQuery
    Score8.4 out of 10
    SQLite
    Score9.6 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    IBM Cloud DatabasesPostgreSQL
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.1
    (95 ratings)
    8.0
    (54 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.0
    (7 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    7.0
    (6 ratings)
    8.0
    (7 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    1.0
    (10 ratings)
    9.3
    (7 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    IBM Cloud DatabasesPostgreSQL
    Likelihood to Recommend
    IBM
    Less Appropriate Scenario: 1) Small Scale or Low Budget Projects 2) Organizations with limited expertise in cloud technologies may find the learning curve steep, especially if they are not familiar with the IBM Cloud platform 3) If database requirements are highly dynamic and change frequently, the comprehensive features and management provided by IBM Cloud Databases might be overkill. A more flexible, self-managed solution could be preferable for adapting to rapid changes.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    PostgreSQL, unlike other databases, is user-friendly and uses an open-source database. Ideal for relational databases, they can be accessed when speed and efficiency are required. It enables high-availability and disaster recovery replication from instance to instance. PostgreSQL can store data in a JSON format, including hashes, keys, and values. Multi-platform compatibility is also a big selling point. We could, however, use all the DBMS’s cores. While it works well in fast environments, it can be problematic in slower ones or cause multiple master replication.
    Read full review
    Pros
    IBM
    • The ease of setup was effortless. For anyone with development experience, a few simple questions such as name and login data will get you set up.
    • The web application to manage cluster settings, billing settings and even introspect the data was simple and most importantly worked all the time. This can not always be said for web interfaces of other products.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    • The stability it offers, its speed of response and its resource management is excellent even in complex database environments and with low-resource machines.
    • The large amount of resources it has in addition to the many own and third-party tools that are compatible that make productivity greatly increase.
    • The adaptability in various environments, whether distributed or not, [is a] complete set of configuration options which allows to greatly customize the work configuration according to the needs that are required.
    • The excellent handling of referential and transactional integrity, its internal security scheme, the ease with which we can create backups are some of the strengths that can be mentioned.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    IBM
    • Better cost reports, before just increasing to another tier, thus increasing the price. This is critical for early stage startups, where budget is tight.
    • Add more data center options. As a comparison, a similar service, Aiven.io has dozen more options than Compose (basically all big cloud providers). We moved from AWS to Digital Ocean, which made us stop using Compose, since Compose forces us to be either on IBM or AWS.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    • The query syntax for JSON fields is unwieldy when you start getting into complex queries with many joins.
    • I wish there was a distinction (a flag) you could set for automated scripts vs working in the psql CLI, which would provide an 'Are you sure you want to do X?' type prompt if your query is likely to affect more than a certain number of rows. Especially on updates/deletes. Setting the flag in the headless(scripted) flow would disable the prompt.
    • Better documentation around JSON and Array aggregation, with more examples of how the data is transformed.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    IBM
    IBM is our trusted partner which never failed to meet our expectations. Stability, efficiency, usability and security is a must have for our business which is fully provided by IBM Cloud Databases
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    As a needed software for day to day development activities
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    IBM
    IBM Cloud Databases' pricing structure is easy to understand, and if you choose the right product, you can operate your system at minimal cost. Although there is ample documentation available, there doesn't seem to be a user community running on it, so specific usage know-how and troubleshooting can sometimes take longer than expected.
    Read full review
    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    Postgresql is the best tool out there for relational data so I have to give it a high rating when it comes to analytics, data availability and consistency, so on and so forth. SQL is also a relatively consistent language so when it comes to building new tables and loading data in from the OLTP database, there are enough tools where we can perform ETL on a scalable basis.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    PostgreSQL's availability is top notch. Apart from connection time-out for an idle user, the database is super reliable.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    The data queries are relatively quick for a small to medium sized table. With complex joins, and a wide and deep table however, the performance of the query has room for improvement.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    IBM
    Support is helpful enough, but we haven't always had questions answered in a satisfactory manner. At one time we realized that Compose had stopped taking database snapshots on its two-per-day schedule, and had in fact not taken one for many days. Support recognized the problem and it was fixed, but the lack of proactive checks and the inability to share exactly what happened has caused us to look elsewhere for production work loads
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    There are several companies that you can contract for technical support, like EnterpriseDB or Percona, both first level in expertise and commitment to the software.
    But we do not have contracts with them, we have done all the way from googling to forums, and never have a problem that we cannot resolve or pass around. And for dozens of projects and more than 15 years now.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    The online training is request based. Had there been recorded videos available online for potential users to benefit from, I could have rated it higher. The online documentation however is very helpful. The online documentation PDF is downloadable and allows users to pace their own learning. With examples and code snippets, the documentation is great starting point.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    The online documentation of the PostgreSQL product is elaborate and takes users step by step.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    IBM
    The reason why I choose IBM Cloud Databases is that the IBM cloud toolset is already being used in other functions of the company and by using IBM Cloud Databases, the other cloud tools are better embedded and integrated. If the company is set to use amazon tools, I would go for rds.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    Postgres stacks up just [fine] along the other big players in the RDBMS world. It's very popular for a reason. It's very close to MySQL in terms of cost and features - I'd pick either solution and be just as happy. Compared to Oracle it is a MUCH cheaper solution that is just as usable.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    The DB is reliable, scalable, easy to use and resolves most DB needs
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    IBM
    • Prove use cases prior to administering entire platform, obtain ROI faster
    • Able to achieve the technological components of our advanced analytics team without full scale purchase of AI platform
    • Developed several studies to prove out cloud Db value, speed to deploy
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    PostgreSQL Global Development Group
    • The user-role system has saved us tons of time and thus money. As I mentioned in the "Use Case" section, Postgres is not only used by engineering but also finance to measure how much to charge customers and customer support to debug customer issues. Sure, it's not easy for non-technical employees to psql in and view raw tables, but it has saved engineering hundreds of man-hours that would have had to be spent on building equivalent tools to serve finance or customer support.
    • It provides incredibly trustworthy storage for wherever customer data dumped in. In our 6 years of Postgres existence, we have not lost a byte of customer data due to Postgres messing up a transaction or during the multiple times the hard-drives failed (thanks to ACID compliance!).
    • This is less significant, but Postgres is also quite easy to manage (unless you are going above and beyond to squeeze out every last bit of performance). There's not much to configure, and the out of the box settings are quite sane. That has saved us engineers lots of time that would have gone into Postgres administration.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots